The {hardware} that can fly SpaceX’s subsequent astronaut mission for NASA is poised and prepared for liftoff.
The Crew-5 mission is scheduled to launch at midday EDT (1600 GMT) on Wednesday (Oct. 5) from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart (KSC) in Florida, and workforce members have been checking off containers within the leadup.
On Saturday (Oct. 1), for instance, the 4 Crew-5 astronauts — NASA’s Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan’s Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina — arrived at KSC from NASA’s Johnson Area Heart in Houston.
Associated: SpaceX Crew-5 astronauts prepared for historic mission
That very same day, the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule that can fly Crew-5 had been rolled out to Pad 39A from SpaceX‘s processing facility at KSC. The Falcon 9 is jarringly white and clear by SpaceX requirements; Elon Musk’s firm is known for touchdown and reflying boosters, which get soot-blackened throughout their journeys again to Earth. However Crew-5 would be the first mission for this explicit Falcon 9 first stage.
On Sunday (Oct. 2), SpaceX carried out a “static hearth” check of the Falcon 9, lighting up the primary stage’s 9 Merlin engines briefly in a typical preflight trial. SpaceX, NASA and the Crew-5 astronauts additionally “accomplished a full rehearsal of launch day actions” on Sunday, SpaceX stated by way of Twitter (opens in new tab).
Crew-5 will ship Mann, Cassada, Wakata and Kikina to the Worldwide Area Station for a five-month keep. The mission will make historical past in a number of methods. As an illustration, Kikina will turn into the primary cosmonaut ever to fly on a SpaceX mission to orbit. And Mann will turn into the primary Native American lady to achieve the ultimate frontier.
NASA and SpaceX had been focusing on as we speak (Oct. 3) for Crew-5’s liftoff, however Hurricane Ian pushed issues again by two days.
The storm’s influence on the timeline for NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission was way more dramatic. NASA had been focusing on Sept. 27 for the launch of Artemis 1, which can carry off from KSC’s Pad 39B. However the Artemis 1 workforce rolled Artemis 1 off the pad final week to guard it from Ian and is now eyeing a launch in mid-November.
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a ebook concerning the seek for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Fb (opens in new tab).